MEDIA ADVISORY FOR NOVEMBER 22, 2003
CALIFORNIA SUPERMARKET STRIKE HITS LOCAL SAFEWAY STORES
National Picket Lines to Hit Washington Area Safeway Stores this Weekend
70,000 Supermarket Workers on Strike for Affordable Health Benefits
Safeway shoppers in the Washington area will likely see picket lines at their local stores this weekend. After six weeks on the streets, Southern California supermarket workers are taking their fight across the country. From the San Francisco Bay to the Chesapeake, Safeway shoppers will be confronted by striking UFCW members asking them: Do Not Shop Safeway.
Local labor, religious and community leaders, joined by hundreds of striking and supporting union members, will launch the local campaign at noon on Saturday, November 22, at the Safeway store at 6500 Piney Branch Road NW in Washington, DC. More than 200 striking UFCW members from California will be joined by workers from West Virginia, acting in support, will blanket Safeway stores in Washington, D.C. and Maryland and ask customers to take their grocery business to a more responsible employer.
More than 70,000 United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) members in Southern California have been on strike against Vons, owned by Safeway, Albertsons and Ralphs, owned by Kroger, for six weeks. 4,000 Kroger workers in West Virginia have been holding the line for affordable health care at work against the Safeway-led charge to destroy health benefits for workers and their families.
Southern California strikers have extended picket lines to Safeway stores in the San Francisco Bay area and throughout Northern California. The DC-area extension is the latest push to educate consumers about Safeway’s anti-worker agenda.
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WHO: Striking supermarket workers, national and local labor leaders, religious and community leaders.
WHAT: Hold the Line for Health Care – Pickets Hit Local Safeway Stores
WHEN: 12:00 noon, Saturday, November 22, 2003
WHERE: Safeway, 6500 Piney Branch Road, NW, Washington, DC
